RIM’s CEO Talks About PlayBook, Security Concerns

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Julia Angwin, RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie showed off the company’s new tablet, the PlayBook. He also addressed security concerns that governments in the Middle East and India have with the BlackBerry.

Balsillie called the PlayBook “a super fast machine with an independent identity.” Trashing criticism that the tablet is co-dependent on the BlackBerry, he said that it could either be used as a standalone Wi-Fi and media gadget, or as a more powerful device after it’s connected to a user’s BlackBerry. “What’s core is its engine, what it does for you today and will continue to do for you,” he said.

RIM also has been in the news lately because of conflicts with some governments that want backdoor access to users’ information. Mr. Balsillie said those countries should go to mobile networks or the BlackBerry user’s employer with a warrant and demand information from them instead of RIM. “It’s because of architecture we can’t do this, not by choice.”

He was also skeptical about the research prediction that no tablet would be able to touch Apple’s iPad for quite a few years, and called the trends in the market unpredictable.